


My Eyes Reflect And Shimmer But They Are Not Buttons

by I_loved_it



Category: Coraline (2009)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Emotional Baggage, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-01-22 10:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12479732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_loved_it/pseuds/I_loved_it
Summary: Coraline hasn't quite recovered from her adventures. And it's hard to hide, especially with the lately disgustingly-recent panic attacks.Not a for-sure summary. This is basically a prompt for myself so that I will continue writing and maybe have something worth reading.





	1. Chapter 1

It’s great, the garden party tradition… Everyone smiling and laughing. This year there wasn't much work to do. The tulips grew back nicely and needed very little weeding. The other flowers and vegetables in their beds were easy tending.

 _Tending_ …

_(she can swear she hears singing)_

  


All of a sudden, Wybie is kneeling in front of her, gently cradling her face in his hands.

“Look at me Jonesy, hey, look in my eyes”

“Wybie?” her lips tremble. She glances up to see his eyes, not buttons, never again, and she still can't catch her breath. Gasping, she throws herself into his chest, half hiding in his open coat. There are tears running down her face, wetting his shirt.

When did she start crying?

 

“Woooaah there girl, shhhh, it’s okay. You’re okay”

She lets out a breathless laugh as she pulls back enough to look up at him without entirely leaving the safety of his coat. “I’m not a horse, geeze.” There’s a weak smile on her lips.

She leans her head back against his shoulder to catch her breath. Crap, now there's a crowd.

Neighbors and parents alike start in.

 

“Coraline, what’s wrong?” That's Mom. Or, at least that's Mom's voice. She can't be sure it's  _really_ Mom. C'mon Coraline, you _know_ you're not there.

“Are you okay?”

"Caroline, what has caused rope 3TO?" (this grief)

 

“I- I-”

 

“Are you hurt?” 

“Oh dear, Caroline"

 

“I’m fine- I just- uh” She’s still shaking.

 

“It's okay Jonesy.” Wybie is still huddled, shielding her with that ridiculous, long, amazing coat.

 

“Let’s get you inside, alright?” Her mother is kneeling beside her, and something in Coraline settles when she sees her mother's eyes. She reaches out to help her daughter up but stops.

 

Oh, she’s still clutching Wybie’s coat in her fist. “Um..”

 

He doesn't seem to miss a beat. He just says,“It’s alright, I’ve got her,” and hoists her up so he's on his feet, keeping her head against his chest. -Wow, he’s gotten tall- He carries her up to the house like it's nothing. Thankfully, only Mom and Dad follow him, no matter how theatrically entertaining this could be for the two retired actresses, a bored grandmother, and a mouse-circus connoisseur. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coraline struggles to explain what happened in the garden.

Charlie holds the side door open for Wybie. As soon as they're in through the kitchen into the living room, Coraline pulls her face from Wybie's chest.

"Let me down," she mumbles.

"Kay, Coraline, careful." Her whole name is more of a term of endearment than anything else between them. 'Term of endearment' is of course something neither one would say because they are **just friends**.

He sets her down gently on her feet. She makes an obvious effort to subtly let go of his coat, though he stays close and stoops a little to make eye-contact. She gives him a quick nod before turning to look at her parents. Charlie looks like he's struggling to keep his worried expression in place as he smiles at the silent interaction. Mel is just now coming into the room, having stepped aside to put dishes in the sink. When she sees her daughter more-or-less supporting her own weight she seems to remember what just happened.

"How 'bout we sit down?" suggests Mom.

There is a moment of awkward silence where once seated, Coraline refuses to look up from the floor, and Wybie is focusing on her face searching for how to lead into this. Was she going to come up with a lie? Was he supposed to back her up? Was she gonna finally tell them the truth? Or something close? What was close to the truth, he didn't know. But the panic attacks (she hates it when he calls them that) weren't going away. If anything, they were getting worse.

 

 

* * *

It hadn't actually started directly after the incident at the well. It had been later, in the first few weeks of high school, when Coraline had looked right at him and had seen someone else. He never really got much information on what the ‘evil place’ was like before then, but in those 15 panicked minutes of their lunch hour, Coraline spouted things he really didn’t want to hear. She had told him, in broken words, of how the “Other Mother” had transformed into something monstrous when it had become angry. She had described how everything about that place that was bright and fun had become terrifying and dangerous until is shredded away into nothing. Finally, with her voice full of tears, she told him of the people-the puppets-and how they looked so real. She told him about the button eyes.

“Everyone was there. You and mom and dad and the neighbors, even the mice! And sometimes I think I’m still there, so I just hold my breath and wait until I can see someone’s eyes.”

“...They were so good. So much better than I would be. They loved me, and she _killed_ them… and I left them.”

The last of her speech was told with her head buried in his chest.

After he helped her catch her breath, that had been a good day. They had skipped 4th and 5th period and hung out outside like they used to.

* * *

 

 

Coraline clears her throat and Wybie is drawn from his reverie.

“You’re gonna think I’m crazy,” she starts, her eyes no longer fixed on the floor but flitting from her parents’ shoes to the door hidden behind a conspicuously placed bookshelf. “Do you remember… those recurring dreams I had a few years ago..?”

“The ones about the apartment?” Mel asks.

“Yeah, uh, those,” when she looks up her eyes are glistening. “The thing is, they weren’t dreams. They kinda actually happened. The door...the door really opened to this other place and-” she stops suddenly. Wybie can see her clutching her hands in an attempt to quell their shaking. Coraline’s mom has an eyebrow raised like she’s waiting for the punch line, and her dad looks a little lost. "And there were people there. And it was all so magical, until it wasn't."

Suddenly Coraline is turned towards him. “Oh, god this is so bad, this is crazy, god Wybie what am I doing they’re gonna think I’m insane! oh my god, I can’t do this, what can they do about it anyway, I’m just messed up that’s all, I-”

“Stop,” he hushes.

“Coraline?” Mel says right over Charlie’s “What’s this about?”

“What’s important is that sometimes she gets scared” Wybie turns toward her parents. “She can’t tell if she’s here or in that place, and she needs to see your eyes. Remind her of something that happened yesterday, talk to her, and just let her see for a minute. She never takes very long to come back after she looks.”

Coraline looks at him with an expression both angry and grateful.

“What place?” They’re not getting it.

“ _That_ place. The one from the ‘dreams’ she told you about.”

“That place,” Coraline says quietly pointing to the bookshelf.

Mel _laughs,_ “what are you talking about?”

Wybie has seen abused children flinch less harsh than that. She’s curled away like she’s been burned. “I told you,” she mutters and he realizes it’s to him. “They just think I’m crazy.”

Before he can respond Charlie speaks up, “you stopped talking about those dreams. That day the catalog was published. The day you cut your knee.”

“Yeah.”

“I remember that day; you broke one of the snowglobes-”

Charlie talks over his wife. “How did you cut your knee, Coraline?”

“Mr. Bobinsky’s porch collapsed with me on it. I scraped it on the metal when I was falling.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous.” Mel stops her retort when Charlie reaches for her hand. He squeezes lightly, but he doesn’t seem to notice what she’s been saying. He looks like he needs reassurance for something.

“Do you have any proof, Coraline? Something more than a story to convince us that there is a problem?”

‘ _The only problem now is that she’s scared!_ ’ Wybie’s head screams, but he stays quiet. Maybe Mr. Jones has a point.

“Yes,” Coraline says and swiftly disappears from the room.

“Oh, this is awful. Has she been this bad all this time?” Mrs. Jones asks Wybie. “She can’t even tell what’s real and what’s not!”

“Mel,” Charlie says softly.

 

Coraline comes back with a box. It’s big enough to be awkward but not enough to where she’s really struggling with it. “Don’t make fun of me okay?” She’s looking at him so Wybie nods. She puts the box on the coffee table and pulls the lid off. Inside he can see some clothes, a folder, a large plastic bag and a pair of blue boots.

“She made these,” Coraline pulls out the crudely folded sweater and hands it to her dad who is reaching for it.

“And that’s what’s left of the doll, and here are your tickets for that play you guys never made it to ‘cause of me, and I used to have my blanket but it’s gone now. We threw it down the well so that she couldn’t get the key.”

"What are all these little things?"

"Oh, the sticks and stuff are what the cat brought me that I could keep in my room."

"What does the cat have to do with this?" Mr. Jones asks.

Coraline sighs and plops herself back on the couch, a lot closer to Wybie this time. "Because he came with me one time-oh god that sounds so crazy, but Dad I promise it's true." She takes a deep breath and continues, "I wrote about it. After it was all over, I wrote about each time. I was going to burn the paper, but once I was done I didn't feel like I needed to. That's what's in the folder."

Mr. Jones puts the sweater back in the box, but he doesn't reach for anything else.

They sit in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Fade to black-
> 
> I'm working on more. I didn't expect so many people to read an unfinished work from a small fandom. Thanks guys.


	3. Chapter 3

After standing by the coffee table and eyeing her parents from the corner of her eye, she takes a shivering breath and moves a step to return to her chair. She stops when Charlie starts to talk again.

“I don’t remember why we missed the concert that day. Actually, I don’t remember going to sleep that night. I just thought it was cause I was so nervous about the catalog, but even when I try, I can’t remember.” He’s looking at the folder laying in the box like it’s going to get up and tell him all the answers to life.

“This is stupid, Charlie. Just because I can’t remember what we had for dinner one night years ago that means I was taken hostage?”

Charlie doesn’t answer, Wybie-who has been trying to have a silent conversation with a statuesque Coraline-turns to glare at her and just says “Yes.”

 _No_ , Coraline thinks, _this is bad. I don’t want them mad at me._

“Coraline?” her dad is halfway out of his seat and towards her when she checks back into reality. When she looks up at him, she knows that there is fear in her eyes. He stutters to a stop, meaning to ask if she’s okay only to receive his answer. He looks back at the box and asks, “can we read them?”

She nods. He reaches for the folder, lays it to the side on the coffee table, and finally makes his way to his daughter. When he takes her into his arms, he can feel her shivering. She buries her head in his chest for a second before pulling away completely. And that hurts, she doesn’t pull away from love that quickly even when he’s just said some stupid joke. “Okay,” he mutters. He turns back to the table, grabs the folder and takes his wife’s hand. She lets herself be pulled to her feet and semi-dragged down the hall.

 

 

 

When Wybie hears the stairs stop creaking with footsteps, he moves to crouch in front of Coraline where she’s curled up in her chair.

“Hey,” he whispers, she doesn’t budge, “so that could’ve gone better, huh?”

The sob she releases from her chest breaks his heart. “God this is gonna end bad. Their going to read those stupid papers and think I’m crazy. I wasn’t meant for a straitjacket, man.”

“C’mon. It’s gonna be fine,” he says, standing up. “Let’s go for a walk or something.”

Coraline looks like she might argue, but eventually takes his offered hand. They make their way out the door only to find Mr. B still doing some weird handstand-pushups on top of the handrail of the garden bridge. He’s counting so loud they can hear him from the garden entrance.

“Nine. Ten. Eleven...”

Coraline smiles softly. She grabs Wybie by the arm and leads him up the slope of the garden, around Bobinski, and out onto the trail.

 

 

 

He’s just starting to accept that this will be the most awkward trip to the well ever when she mutters, “sometimes I really miss him,”

“Huh?”

“The cat. I felt really bad after we got back- after we _escaped._ I felt bad that I never asked him his name while he could tell me. Now I have to call him _the cat_.”

“Coraline, after you told me he could talk over there, he practically started purring songs you liked when he rode in my coat and would ‘meow’ and move his paws in response to things like he was talking. You could’ve just asked him. It would’ve been a fun game if nothing else.”

“I know I just-”

“But, you should remember that he was also a jerk and would’ve probably told you a different sound was right every time until you lost your mind. The joke he made about mothers eating daughters? Yeah. He wasn’t going to feel offended that you didn’t ask his name.

“God he _was_ a jerk. What was he thinking saying that to a kid?”

What is your mom thinking, saying you’re crazy, he thinks. “Right,” he says.

 

 

 

Silence falls until Coraline starts moving her hands around. He’s seen her do this at school before she starts a fight or finishes one; she’s gathering her thoughts but has too much energy to not bounce around a little. “Do you think-? Uh, do you think they’ll try to lock me up?”

“Cora-”

“I mean cause _I_ would try to lock me up, and they still could technically I’m not an adult or anything and I did just tell them that I climbed through a magic tunnel that is like seven inches of solid brick and stuff..” She steps up onto a rock about ten feet from the well, jumping between a few and back to the original one. “It doesn’t make any sense, and how could I have expected them to believe me after everything. I should’ve lied. I should’ve thought of a lie a long time ago, and now they probably think we’re on drugs.”

“Hey!” Yelling seems the only way to stop this bullet train. “I don’t know what you're talking about with anybody being on drugs. _I_ didn’t go through any tiny door and grandma won’t even let me in the room when she takes her ‘pain meds’ that I _know_ is weed.”

Coraline’s almost giggling. He’s been going on and on about this since a year ago when someone at school made a joke about what marijuana smelled like and he turned to tell her that grandma sometimes smelled like that. The look on his face as it took him too long to realize the meaning behind that connection was priceless-she wished she had it on camera.

 

“And Will and Rachel have separately invited you to several parties where they have drugs and you turn them down to _read.”_

“I told you they probably don’t have the good stuff, Wybourne”

He raises an eyebrow. “How would either of us know what that even means?”

“Yeah, good point. Next time. If I’m not locked up," she nods, "wait- I think they graduate this year.”

“Oh well, there go our hard-partying days.” His forlorn tone would be much more believable if his obvious excitement at Will going off to college wasn’t so extreme. Some people just rub each other the wrong way.

 

She’s still smiling, but it becomes more of an echo when she sighs and sits down cross-legged on the rock, seeming to lose all the energy she just had.

“Jonesy? It’s gonna be okay, even if they don’t believe you.”

She jerks her head in a nod and starts to reply but her phone starts to ring. “It’s them.” Her hands shake around the buzzing phone. “I can’t”

 

 

 

 

He doesn’t think twice about taking the few steps toward her and answering the call. The phone reads “Dad” with a picture zoomed in of her dad snoozing leaning against a computer.

“Hello.”

If Charlie is surprised Coraline didn’t answer he doesn’t let on. “Come on back. We’ve gotta talk.” Wybie knows Mr. Jones enough to tell he’s grim but he can’t really tell if he’s trying to hide something.

“Yeah? I figured it would take longer to get settled with the story.”

“How long did it take you?” It’s an honest enough question.

“I don’t think my experience can count the same way. I got shoes thrown at my head by some very nice girl that most definitely did not shout insults as I ran away and then the next night a magical metal hand tried to kill me.”

Coraline has got a dark smirk on her face staring at the well.

 

“Wow, right.” Wybie hears muttering from Mel. While they have their side conversation he waves Coraline closer and takes her hand. Neither of them draws attention to their entwined fingers; they just start on their way back down to the house. It’s Mel who speaks next, “Let me talk to her.” No pretense.

“I think I’ll wait till we get back.” He knows he’s pushing it. It’s just that he’s so done with the tone she has had the whole time. He also vividly remembers this one time school was let out early and everyone called home. Coraline’s face had gone ashen and she had stuttered out what was supposed to be exciting news. That had been a stressful day.

After she huffs and he bites his tongue, Mel hangs up without another word.

 

 

 

 

 

When they make it back through the garden, Mr. B has made his way to the rooftop.

Through the side door and back towards the living room, Wybie doesn't bother leading Coraline to a chair. He just leans against the door frame and spreads his arms a little. For some reason, he doesn’t feel at all awkward shielding her from her parents. He thinks that should bother him.

“Coraline,” Wybie is shocked when Mrs. Jones is the one to start...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think? I tried to post a longer chapter to make up for lost time.


	4. eyes glazed over

“Coraline,” Wybie is shocked when Mrs. Jones is the one to start, “why did you go back? When you found out that it was actually a place and not a dream, why? Why would you?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“That’s not an answer.”

 

“I know, but-”

 

“If this place is real then why did you go back? Are you that determined to destroy yourself!”

 

“Mel.”

 

“No, Charlie. Don’t you see? This is worse than before! She knew!”

 

“Yes I knew! I just- I just wanted- !” she breaks off, there’s a sob in her voice. “I wanted,” she leans further into Wybie before making a frustrated noise in her throat and pulling away. “I wanted someone to- to see me and  _ care _ . I mean- I just wanted…” Then she’s curled around herself, sitting on the floor. 

 

“Coraline…” Mel at least reacts to such obvious pain.

 

“I was just- I just thought you would forget m-” her hiccup has Wybie on his knees, but he doesn’t reach for her. 

“I wanted somebody to look a-h-t me. I just...But then she wanted- and I  _ wanted  _ it. But it would hurt. It would kill me. And I was scared, so I ran. And I left them.” She bites her lip and Wybie remembers her telling about how the others there loved her.

Charlie rises from his perch at the couch and crouches down beside her.

She doesn’t seem to notice, “And then, then she had you and you were gone. I was scared and it was my fault and I deser- was supposed to be alone but she had you. That wasn’t what was supposed to- so I went back. I went back to get you and you were safe and you looked at me again instead of your computer. I ruined everything for no reason!” She bangs her fist on the hardwood, and Wybie’s at her side grabbing her elbows before Charlie flinches.

Coraline just sinks back into him muttering about something being her fault. He can only shake his head, though he doesn’t know who he’s correcting. 

Too much is going through Wybie’s head at once. How could she  _ deserve  _ to be alone? And no, all they did was not work all day, still. Yeah, less, but the longest exchange he’d ever seen between Coraline and one of her parents was a short comment about what Mel would buy for dinner or Charlie running the new articles to town.

 

His thoughts are halted by a hand on his shoulder. Mr. Jones is a lot closer than he was a second ago. “We didn’t know,” he whispers. 

It takes Wybie a second to realize that was said to him. He nods, and Charlie nods back before looking back to Coraline. His daughter lacks all the joyfulness she usually exhibits. 

 

“You felt alone.” No response. “Oh, Coraline, you- you weren’t-”

 

Wybie gathers his thoughts enough to raise an eyebrow. In what way was she not alone?

 

“You’re not alone. Not now. I’m so sorry. We just got so swept up in work and finances and we could’ve gone under and- god- Coraline, we didn’t-. We love you. I love you. I didn’t mean to push you to this.”

 

Coraline looks up at her father, but his eyes are slightly glazed over. It’s just now hitting him. He could have lost her a dozen times over. Without the creepy door. Just ignoring her for this long- this is how parents lose their children. Inattentiveness. 

He’s snapped back to present time when a small hand curls into his own on his knee. His left hand is still clutching the Lovat boy, pretty tightly now. He tries to subtly let go of the kid’s arm, but it will probably bruise. Wybie doesn’t seem to notice, too focused on Coraline.

 

The tears welling in her eyes don’t impair her words, “You didn’t, I love you too. I was just alone. It’s not. I should have- I should be over this by now.”

 

While Charlie fervently disagrees, Wybie looks over him at a frowning Mel. 

 

_ Well,  _ he thinks,  _ one down, one to go. _

 


	5. Mom Number One

When Mel stands up Wybie knows this is not going to be as easy as with Mr. Jones.

"So because you were bored. Because we didn't entertain you for  _one week_ you decide to put your life in the hands of a monster!?"

 _Way to bring up her_ hands,  _not a very calming picture_ Wybie thinks.

 "N-" Mrs. Jones won't let her get out the word.

"You couldn't just unpack your things and enjoy having all this space to run around in and play with your toys like any normal child? You had to be the center of someone's universe or you felt left out? We were  _working,_ Coraline. What did you expect us to do?"

"Mel, stop this. You can't just-"

"I can't? I can't! She thinks this is all our fault! Like none of this is on her! And why the hell does some kid we hardly know get to tell us we've done something wrong? Why am I the only one that sees what she's doing? She's putting everything on us! We didn't tell her to do  _this_!" she gestures back to the crinkled papers laid out on the coffee table.

_So a human being didn't behave exactly the way you expected, I'm shocked._

_C'mon, focus Lovat. Nothin's gonna get better if you stay pissed at_ _Coraline's freaking_ Mom. 

"I didn't tell her to climb through some dusty cave! School was starting in just a month! Why couldn't she be focused on that!"

"And what would have happened then!" Wybie doesn't think he's ever heard Mr. Jones yell.

"What?" Mrs. Jones is still fuming but is interested in what her husband thinks the problem is.

"Think about it, Mel. What happened during all of this, right under our noses? Our baby was lured into a dark room by some villain! What does that sound like to you!?"

"I know what could have happened to her! God, Charlie, why do you think I'm pissed!"

"You're not getting it! While this was all happening she made a friend who has kept her from being drawn into other dark corners! If this kid hadn't of been there, we could've lost her sometime later and never known how guilty we are!"

"Guilty? What the hell are you talking about! We are not to blame for Coraline's lack of impulse control!"

"Then who is!" Mr. Jones would fit right in a bushel of red apples. No one would ever tell the difference.

Mrs. Jones turns to glare ar Coraline and opens her mouth but only a croaking sound comes out. "I--"

Wybie looks back down at the girl in his arms and sees her eyes focused on a far point. She's not even here anymore. She probably didn't even hear her dad defending her. "Hey, Coraline, c'mon it's okay. It's not that bad. C'mon and see." he whispers.

"But I can't..."

"Yeah you can, just blink a few times. It'll clear up. You'll see. I promise."

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots the Joneses crouched close by, but neither of them reaching out. In fact, while they've obviously responded to Coraline checking out, they still seem to be silently deep in their argument.

When Coraline comes to she looks up at Wybie with confusion on her face. "What happened?"

"You went away. It was pretty bad."

"But why did I-" and horror lights up her face. "Oh my God," she says, sitting up to look at her parents. No doubt, she's taking in the angry set of their shoulders and little else.

Wybie starts to help her to her feet and out of the room. He figures taking her up to her room might be the best thing at this point. She's obviously exhausted. She wouldn't make it over to his grandma's house even if she tried. He starts to steer her out of the room.

"C'mon Jons-" "I got her" and there is Mr. Jones, hands held out and a sad look on his face.

Wybie thinks about it a minute, stroking Coraline's right arm, but eventually leans her onto her dad. Charlie makes short work of scooping up his little girl and marching down the hall. Wybie thinks he can hear muttering or singing or something.

Mrs. Jones shuffles further into the living room.  _Shit._ Wybie thinks,  _Don't leave me alone with her._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Wybie character was created for the sake of the movie, correct?  
> So what happens when Coraline is inevitably ignored again without any other means of connection?  
> This chapter, funnily enough, is kind of a critique on what people assume the book's lesson to be. The "be careful what you wish for" trope is misplaced when readers apply it to these characters. Why is Coraline being overly opportunistic to wish for parents who look at her and tend to her needs and entertain her from time to time?


End file.
